Philosophical Perspectives

Philosophy
Greek words Philos & Sophia; Love of Wisdom
Study of fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence, especially in an academic
discipline
Investigating the nature of significance of ordinary and scientific beliefs
Why is it essential to understand the ancient philosophical perspectives about self?
Greeks-seriously questioned myths and moved away from them in attempting to understand
reality and respond to perennial questions of curiosity and of self.
The different perspectives and views on the self can be best seen and understood then by
revisiting its prime movers and identify the most important conjectures made by philosophers
from the ancient times to the contemporary period

PRE-SOCRATICS
Concerned with answering questions such as:
What is the world really made of?
Why is the world the way it is?
What explains the changes that happen around us?
Arché
-origin or source; the “soul”; the primal matter
-The SOUL’S MOVEMENT is the ultimate arche of all other movement
-has no origin outside itself and cannot be destroyed
-explains the multiplicity of things in the world

1) Thales; Greek (624-546 BC)

-first systematic philosopher of the Western world
-the first to reject supernatural explanations and seek reasons behind events
-devising several geometric theories
-first to study electricity
2) Anaximander; Greek (610-546 BC)
-student of Thales and teacher of Anaximenes and Pythagoras
-early proponent of science
-considered to be the first true scientist and to have conducted the earliest recorded scientific
experiment
-founder of astronomy, he tried to observe and explain different aspects of the universe and its
origins, and to describe the mechanics of celestial bodies in relation to the Earth
-made important contributions to cosmology, physics, geometry, meteorology, geography and
Metaphysics
3) Heraclitus; Greek (535-475 BC)
-AKA Heraclitus the Black, The Obscure, The Weeping philosopher for his negative outlook and
mysterious sayings
-famous for the sayings “you cannot step in the same river twice”; “everything flows”
4) Parmenides; Greek
-Father of Metaphysics
-Influenced Plato and the whole of Western Philosophy
-greatest contribution: method of Reasoned Proof for Assertions
5) Pythagoras; Greek (570-490 BC)
-worked out relations bet musical notes, figured out all regular solids
-First to study irrational numbers
-did much work on MYSTERIOUS BELIEFS such as REINCARNATION
6) Empedocles; Greek (490-430 BC)
-best known as originator of cosmogenic theory of the four classical elements of the ancient
world: earth, air, fire and water
-credited with several prescient ideas in physics which have since proved quite prophetic
7) Anaxagoras; Greek (500-428 BC)
-treated all events as scientifically explicable instead of being caused by supernatural beings
-declared that the sun was an enormous, hot rock in the sky
8) Democritus; Greek (460-370 BC)
-believed that the whole universe was governed by natural laws
-predicted the existence of atoms and vacuums
-Laughing Philosopher
SOCRATES
-Father of Western Philosophy
-Concerned with the problem of the self
-true task of the philosopher is to KNOW ONESELF
-“The unexamined life is not worth living”
-underwent a trial for corrupting the minds of the youth
-succeeded in making people think about who they are
-“The worst things that can happen to anyone is to live but to die inside”
-every man is composed of BODY (imperfect, impermanent) and SOUL (perfect, permanent);
every man is DUALISTIC
-KNOWLEDGE was the ultimate virtue and best used to help people improve their lives
-the only GOOD is KNOWLEDGE and the only EVIL is IGNORANCE

PLATO
427-347 BCE
-Tripartite Soul: there should be a balance between these three parts of the soul
Rational/Logical:
seeks truth and swayed by facts and arguments
analyzes
looks ahead
rationally weighs options; what is best/worst
gauge what is best ad truest overall
Spirited/Emotional:
how feelings fuel actions
loves to face and overcome great challenges
the part that can still itself to adversity
love victory, winning, challenge, honor
Appetitive/Physical Desires:
drives you to eat, have sex and protect self
desire for pleasures, comforts, physical satisfactions, bodily ease
ARISTOTLE
384-322 BC
-Body and Soul are ONE THING; one can’t survive without the other
Soul
-makes a person a person
-ESSENCE OF THE SELF
3 KINDS OF SOUL
Vegetative: nutrition, growth, reproduction
Sentient: sensation/perception, appetite/desire/emotion
Rational: understanding, comprehension
-Be a free thinker and don’t accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what
you believe in.

ST. AUGUSTINE
Nov 12, 354-Aug 28, 480 AD
-Main figure in bringing Christianity to dominance in the previously pagan Roman Empire
-Man is of a BIFURCATED NATURE
-Part of man dwells in the world (imperfect) and yearns to be with the divine
-other part is capable of reaching immortality
-Body dies on earth, Soul lives eternally in spiritual bliss with “God”

THOMAS AQUINAS
Man is composed of Matter and Form
Matter: hyle
-common stuff that makes up everything in the universe
Form: morphe
-essence of a substance or thing (what makes a thing what it is)
-the body of the human is similar to animals/objects, but what makes a man human is his
essence.

RENE DESCARTES
March 31, 1596-Feb 11, 1650
-Father of Modern Philosophy
-Methodical Doubt: the process of understanding the self
- “There is so much that we should doubt”
- “if something is so clear and lucid as not to be doubted, that’s the only time one should
believe.”
-the only thing one can’t doubt is existence of the self
- “I think; therefore, I am”
-The self: Body extenza + Mind cogito
-the body is a machine attached to the mind
-mind makes the man
- “it is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”

DAVID HUME
April 26, 1711-Aug 25, 1776
-Bundle Theory of Self: “The self is nothing but a bundle of impressions and ideas”
- “one can only know what comes from senses and experiences”
- “the self is not an entity beyond the physical body”
-you know that other people are humans not because you have seen their soul, but because
you see them, hear them and feel them, etc.
-we want to believe that there is an unified, coherent self, soul, mind, but actually, it is all just a
combination of experiences.

IMMANUEL KANT
April 22, 1724-Feb 12-1804
-all things begin with sensation and perception of IMPRESSIONS
-MIND: organizes and regulates all these impressions from the external world
-the self organizes different impressions that one gets in relation to his own existence
-we need active intelligence to synthesize all knowledge and experience.
-the self is not only personality but also the seat of knowledge
-self is a product of REASON
- “all our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to understanding, and ends with
reason. There is nothing bigger than reason.”

GILBERT RYLE
- “What truly matters is the behavior that a person manifests in his day-to-day life”
- “I act therefore, I am”
- “You are what you do”

MERLEAU-PONTY
-mind-body bifurcation is an invalid problem
-mind and body are inseparable
-one’s body is his opening toward his existence to the world
-the living body, his thoughts, emotions, and experiences are all one.